iscoverNew research shows that accounting professionals are increasingly playing a hands-on role in enabling their clients’ technology ecosystems, across dozens of different tools.
Most accountants are tech enablers for clients
05 August 2025
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8 minute read
Market research agency Agile Market Intelligence has provided Accountants Daily with the interim results from its 2025 Agile Market Intelligence Accounting Tech Review, which has collected survey responses from 501 accountants and bookkeepers across Australia since March 2025.
The report aimed to benchmark platform performance across private practice and in-house accounting professionals, and capture perceptions around functionality, service quality and platform features.
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As reported recently, tech adoption in the accounting space has been slowing, with one in two (49 per cent) professionals and their firms noting they had not adopted any new accounting tech in the last five years, with only 14 per cent of those surveyed having adopted a new platform in the past year. Moreover, the discovery process for accounting tech is driven mostly by seeking peer input and attending events over direct vendor contact.
Survey respondents have been asked, to date, to identify each platform they use and how they deploy the platforms (either in their practice only, a combination of practice and client or used only within a client’s business). The interim results, Agile said, show that three in four (75 per cent) accountants say they use platforms in their clients’ organisations, and that 77 per cent use the same platforms in both their own practice and with clients.
Such a high rate of client-facing use, Agile said, speaks to the central role that such systems play in the relationship between accountants and clients.
Speaking about the findings, Agile Market Intelligence director Michael Johnson (pictured) said: “When insights flow through to clients in real time, it strengthens the accountant’s role as a partner, not just a processor.”
“This is a critical step for firms as they seek to increase revenue, deepen relationships and secure client loyalty,” he said.
The results also showed – “unsurprisingly”, Agile noted – that general ledger tools are the most used across both clients and practices, with insights and reporting platforms also having high levels of deployment in client engagements, with 41 per cent of these technology deployments used only in a client’s business.
The most client-facing technologies, Agile said, directly support operational efficiency and reporting clarity.
“Accountants are embedding these systems into client businesses to streamline data flow and improve decision-making at the source. As firms shift towards advisory and strategic services, reporting platforms have become key to communicating value,” the agency said.
“Their visibility within client organisations supports more data-led decision-making and ongoing engagement. This trend reflects a broader shift in the profession, from internal efficiency to external enablement. Firms are increasingly acting as technology operators and infrastructure partners for their clients.”
Johnson added: “We are starting to see insights tools become the backbone of how firms deliver real-time advice.”
“Clients expect that level of integration, and accountants have leveraged the tools they have available to drive it,” he said.
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